Lagos: Stock market investors have seen a significant increase in trading activity on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) as transactions surged by 25.04% for the week. Investors traded a total of 4.847 billion shares valued at N149.755 billion through 174,267 transactions on the Exchange floor, marking a sharp contrast to the 3.691 billion shares worth N112.261 billion traded in 138,250 transactions the previous week.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the Financial Services industry dominated the activity chart, accounting for 68.37% of the total equity turnover volume and 40.79% of the total value. The industry saw 3.314 billion shares traded at N61.084 billion across 70,239 transactions. The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 326.455 million shares worth N19.777 billion in 23,764 deals. The Services Industry ranked third, with a turnover of 279.737 million shares valued at N3.947 billion in 12,794 transactions.
Trading in the top three equities-FCMB Group Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Universal Insurance Plc-accounted for a significant portion of the week’s activity. These equities represented 1.245 billion shares worth N15.825 billion in 9,250 deals, contributing 25.69% and 10.57% to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation saw appreciations of 5.07% and 5.08%, closing the week at 141,263.05 and N89.373 trillion, respectively. All indices experienced gains, except for NGX Insurance and NGX Oil and Gas, which depreciated by 1.22% and 0.48%, while the NGX ASeM Index remained unchanged.
In terms of price movements, 54 equities appreciated during the week, a decrease compared to 60 in the previous week. Meanwhile, 49 equities saw a price decline, up from 43 last week, and 43 equities remained unchanged, slightly lower than the 44 recorded in the previous week.
Top gainers included UAC of Nigeria, Mecure Industries, Custodian Investment, Veritas Kapital Assurance, and Tripple Gee and Company, with growth ranging from 22.51% to 60.69%. Conversely, Abbey Mortgage Bank, FTN Cocoa Processors, Cornerstone Insurance, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, and The Initiates were the top decliners.
Additionally, NGX reported that Seplat Energy listed an additional 11.5 million ordinary shares on its Daily Official List as of Friday, Aug. 1. This move increased Seplat Energy Plc’s total issued and fully paid-up shares from 588,444,561 to 599,944,561 ordinary shares, arising from the company’s Employee Share-Based Payment plan.